Chapter 17
Where last we left our Intrepid party they were nearing the end game. The summit of the base is within reach except for the three ceiling mounted auto-cannons currently trained on their hiding place. The saving grace for their lives the large metallic desk that is secured to the floor behind which they have taken shelter. Lady Silmeria has been shot in the shoulder and the cross fire from the three turrets has proven to be a deadly and effective method of pinning them down. How will our adventurers survive this, how will they win through to reach the summit! Silmeria presses up against the makeshift barricade, squeezing her eyes shut and clutching at her shoulder. "...Perhaps I should have begun my studies before we left," she murmurs, voice tight with pain. "When we get back, for certain." Letting out a slow, shaky breath, she opens her eyes, looking to the others. "There wouldn't, by any chance... be something we can do about this?"
Thaylorn glances between Silmeria and the others gathered behind their hiding spot for now, looking concerned over their current situation. "I have some basic healings, wouldn't do so much as to fully heal it though." He offers in return to Silmeria with a small sigh and glance to her once again before trying to risk a small glance above the desk.
Thaylorn's peak almost proves fatal, the bullets ZING through the air with a rrrrrrr almost the instant his head comes into view. The imp manages to get his head back down though there is a furrow through the blue fur on his head... those guns are very good.
Vazkor glances at Raziel as the man suggests he peeks over the desk... But before he can do so, Thaylorn already makes a near-fatal attempt at it himself. Vazkor instead lunging to drag the Imp back down, and peering at the furrow left atop Thaylorn's head. Taking a breath, he looks at each of the others, and matter-of-factly states, "Apparently that's not a very good idea... See anything worthwhile on the desk, though, Imp? Else I might still have to try." You page, "You didn;t have enough time to see, they are ont he ceiling, spaced apart sort of but you couldn't get super exact beyond that" to Thaylorn.
Raziel moves over towards Silmeria while keeping his head down. "It's alright Thaylorn, I'll get it." Upon reaching her side he reaches out hands to place over the wound while glowing wings made of mana manifest for a moment and then drain down over his hands and into her wound, infusing her with healing energies.. The man starts to speak but pauses as Thaylorn tries to peek and is nearly shot "Or perhaps not that one... Who's up for seeing if we can move the desk into a better position instead?"
A tricky situation to be in, but there is always hope after all. Raziel's healing spell is successful in stopping the bleeding and reducing the wound, the bullets lodged in Silmeria's shoulder sliding back out to land witha clink on the floor. The shoulder is still tender however, not perfectly repaired.
Silmeria blows out a breath of relief, rolling the injured shoulder with the barest wince, once flesh is knit and bullet ejected. "That seems... a good and reasonable idea, Raziel." Glancing over their side of the desk, to see just how much damage it has taken and how much more it could withstand, she looks to Vazkor, an eyebrow rising. "Shall we push our cover forward then, d'you think? Like as not it'd need both of us."
Thaylorn probably won't be sticking his head out again any time soon, and by the slightly frightened expression on his face it seems the close call took its toll! Reaching to rub at the missing fur on his head, Thaylorn merely shakes his head quickly "I didn't see much of anything else that can help us, there's some other things we could hide behind...But well you saw how quickly that thing shot at me." He breathes out, looking over as Raziel works on healing Silmeria "Our best bet I think, is for me and Raziel to throw magic blindly, that way we won't get shot any further." He mumbles as he turns his attention towards Raziel "That may not be a good idea, since those things seem to shoot anything that moves...Desk might not be able to stop the bullets if those guns start shooting it."
Vazkor watches Silmeria get healed, and nods in satisfaction as the pullet pops out, before stating, "Don't any of you got a shield spell to throw up? It might slow them down a bit while we either push this thing forward or try to scramble for better cover." Shrugging a bit afterwards, he looks to Thaylorn, and adds, "Well, I'd rather the desk get shot up instead of us... But I'll agree with whatever gets the most votes." And with that, he braces himself a bit, either to push or to bolt.
Raziel checks their side of the desk too and considers, "true Thaylorn, but other than casting wildly I don't really know what else will work. I can expand my spells into small areas, but I don't know that'll be enough and frankly it's draining. Lets try giving this a push first and seeing what happens. If it holds up then we can try to push it over to another item and use that as cover and so on. If not well.. then we can try to fire off things wildly."
The party are crouched behind the curving front of the large aluminium desk, positioned clearly for people to approach when they come through the door they just leapt through from the Atrium chamber and its Redwood Tree. Silmeria is pretty useless probably due to her injured shoulder where as Raziel is just a weak noodle. Vazkor and Thay however are towers of strength! Sweating and grunting the two manage to force the desk off its mounts and start to slide it forward, the whirrrrr of the turrets tracking it can be heard but it doesn't fire. After it has moved about a foot forward they can see the torn and buckled frame it was attached to and a hatch in the floor that must have been located under the desk for access to something or other.
"Look!" Silmeria cries, scrabbling to make a crouching about-face as the hatch slides into view. Pulling it open, she peers into the tangle of wires and tubing, brow furrowing. "It's... rather small," she says after a moment's look. "I could probably fit... or Master Thaylorn. Or, well, both of us, in turn, really. The question is, *should* either of us?"
Pausing from pushing the desk once the hatch is revealed, and Silmeria opens in Thaylorn moves to peer inside. "We'd be splitting up, specially if it goes to some other part of this place." The Imp offers as he looks between the others "Or it could let someone past those guns, who knows. If you want me to go in and check I could."
Vazkor stops pushing the desk as well once he hears Silmeria's outcry, and he quickly turns to look at the hatch as it's opened... Peering at the wires, then looking up at the others, he nods some, and states, "Someone climbing down would be just a bit better than all of us sitting here... If you can't find a way to bypass those guns, can maybe find a way to disable them atleast. So I'm for it."
Raziel is helping, sure he is.. look he's pushing and it's moving. Of course it's still moving when he stops 'helping'. The mage looks back and forth before looking into the hatch that Silmeria opens up. "We'll have to split up then. There might be a way to disable the guns. Thaylorn why don't you go down. Silmeria can follow after then to help once you make sure it's safe enough."
It does indeed turn out to be safe once Thay is down the hole, the short imp is able to crawl along, the tunnel is lined with wires and pipes and heads out under the floor of the reception area out of sight of the guns. Silmeria is also able to follow albeit it is a bit more of a wriggle for her. After about 20 feet they come out in a sort of small square chamber with wires diverging in other directions down similar crawl spaces. There is a hatch in the ceiling and a huge blocky silver chamber on the wall in front of them as they emerge. For Raziel and Vazkor the choice is theirs, do keep pushing the desk or to wait and hope....
Silmeria pulls herself into the chamber with a soft grunt, eyes following the wires heading down either way. Pursing her lips, she looks to Thaylorn, eyebrow rising. "Perhaps we're near the weapons, Master Thaylorn? I'd be vastly happier if we knew for certain..." Looking left, then right, she blows a lock of hair away from her face. "Do we see how far we can go, or wreak what havoc we can here?"
Thaylorn is indeed small enough to fit through that tunnel and makes his way in front of Silmeria until the pair reach the junction. "We might be." The Imp offers in reply as he looks around the small room at the various cables and other passages, then upon the blocky silver chamber. "I assume all these wires are going to something...We should probably wreak some havoc in here." Thaylorn replies with a grin as he looks back to the Esper "Wouldn't hurt to check the other pathways, either."
Vazkor watches the two climb down the hatch, and then just sits down with his back against the desk, apparently not planning to go anywhere for now. Patting himself down with one hand, he sighs a bit, and glances at Raziel, commenting, "Wish I hadn't used up all my pipe tobacco on the trip over..." He shrugs with a brief grin, "Oh well. Guess we wait?"
Raziel sits back and sighs before smirking at Vazkor, "I'm not. It stinks." The man glances up and around before considering and then murmuring, "lets see if I remember.." The man begins to weave a spell before launching it wildly towards the one of the guns with the hope that it'll hit, but there's just as much chance the lightning strike'll miss.
BRRRRRZZZZZZZZZT Raziel's lightning snaps across the room and something goes "Klish" there is a tinkle of lights and then a krrrrrrrrrrrrrzzzzzzzt sound as he lights flicker and go out. For a moment everything is pitch black and then three red points of light come on and illuminate the darkness. Down in the tunnel just as Thaylorn and Silmeria are about to mess those cables up everything goes bonkers. The large grey box on the wall crackles with lightning then suddenly springs open exposing a whole series of switches. Several of them Clunk down exposing red lights as the lightning discharges into the imp and esper. Thaylorn slams back into Silmeria and the pair go down in a tangle of limbs. It hurts like hell and Thaylorn is pretty incapacitated and though uncomfortable Silmeria is thankfully still up....
From within the crawlspace comes a short, sharp cry soon after the lightning strike... almost as if Raziel's spell had unforseen consequences. "THAYLORN!" For a moment, the Esper crouches where she is, a huddled, singed mass of worry, then does the only thing she can think to; try as gently as possible to drag the incapacitated imp back through the crawlspace and out the open hatch. "Somebody give me a hand! Thaylorn's hurt, I need help taking care of him!"
Another cry of pain could be heard along with Silmeria's as the room flares with electricity, frying the water Imp quite well! Silmeria would be able to tell rather easily that he's still breathing just fine, still concious even! As he's pulled back through the tunnel he groans in pain! Looks like he's not fully out of commision and starting to recover from the nasty shock, at least a little bit!
Vazkor starts responding to Raziel, "You don't mind when I put in the green st--" Only to be cut off at the end as the Aegyl throws a bolt of lightning over the desk, and everything goes haywire! The swordfighter instinctively ducking his head as the lights briefly go out and everything... Only to hear the cries of pain and help coming out of the hatch moments after. Muttering simply, 'Crap.' he starts to reach forward to help people back out of the hatch... Raziel blinks, "well that was..." What he was about to say though is lost as the cry is heard. Looking over at Vazkor then the man spreads his hands. Somehow 'oops' doesn't seem adequate enough though and so he says nothing as he moves over to the crawl space to help Vazkor take the knocked out imp.
There three red lights are moving back and forth in time to the whirrr of the guns.... everything else is in darkness and limmed in that odd ruby red glow as the sentry turrets continue to scan the now dark room.....
Silmeria bats the hands away at first, dragging herself out of the hatch; then, reaching down, she nudges Thaylorn back toward the entrance, shifting over to give Vazkor room to help. "What happened? We were figuring out what to do and then... a box just *exploded* with lightning!" Thaylorn is sure proof of that, looking rather singed by the electricity that had arced through the room below! He doesn't do much of anything for now except lay where he's put down, slowely recovering from the shock it would seem.
Vazkor drags the Imp out of the hatch, and puts him down aside Raziel, before glancing at Silmeria and shaking his head a bit, "Just a bad call, is all. Let's get him fixed up." And he sits back then to let Raziel apply some healing magic if needed, his ears perking meanwhile to listen to the whirr of the guns, "Seems the cannons are still active too."
Raziel moves back as there's no room for him as well before muttering, "something like that.. Thaylorn had the idea of throwing magic at it, I decided to give it a try while you guys were down there. Thought lightning would be a good idea.. guess not." He nudges Thaylorn before reaching a hand down to add a little bit of magical healing.
Raziel's healing once again does a good job of helpipng to restore Thaylorn's stamina, giving the imp his strength back though he still looks a dishevelled mess. The guns however are still tracking, those beams of red light sliding from side to side, sweeping back and forth over the room, leaving parts of it in darkness. It might be possible to sneak out in the dark if they can stay out of the red light....
"Accidents happen," Silmeria says gently, touching Raziel's shoulder briefly in a gesture of comfort. "Okay. New plan." She peeks up, very briefly, over the edge of the table, noting the beams, and plops back down. "They're looking for us, too, but they can only track so much at once. If we avoid those lights... I think we can make it."
Raz's healing seems to help the Imp along very well as he finally recovers to the point where he's able to do things again! Reaching a hand up hee rubs his head slightly, eyes going back and forth between the others "Yeah, it's not big deal. Didn't know that'd happen." He adds after Silmeria "That might just work." He would add as he watches for the red lights.
Vazkor watches Thaylorn recover, and then hrms some at the proposal that's tossed out. And after a moment of thought, he pipes in with his own twist on it, while patting the poor Imp, "Well, if you spell and gunblade types can stand up when the beams aren't near the desk, you might be able to just shoot the things... Might be a bit safer then trying to weave all four of us through a safe path." He shrugs.
Raziel looks at Silmeria when she touches his shoulder. After amoment the man nods quietly before looking around, "looks like I blew out the lights too.. but you may be right. Wait for a moment and see if there's a pattern to their search. You all know which way we need to go, yes?" He pauses and glances to Vazkor before considering.. "possible.. but I think they are resistant to magic. My attack took out everything but those after all. A direct hit might work however."
"Wrong type of weapon," Silmeria says to Vazkor, in tones of gentle reminder. "I can't hit it unless I'm next to it." Glancing at Raziel, the Esper raises an eyebrow. "We're headed between where the lights are coming from, yes? So... Perhaps it would help if distractions were made, while we each run the gauntlet. Thaylorn... perhaps you should go last, and stay as high as you can. Likely that'll give you more breathing space than the rest of us."
"Distractions would be best I think, if we have anything we can throw in the opposite direction it might try to shoot that instead of us." Thaylorn suggests along with Silmeria's idea as he glances around the immediate area for any debris that could be used. "Then again, it didn't shoot at the desk when we moved it." He murmurs with a sigh "I'll try whatever you all think would be the best way to get around, I could always try to blast them with water from here, though."
Vazkor nods some as he's reminded, before giving a bit of a shrug, and stating, "Well, I'm ready to just run for it then. Guess I'll be going first too." He grins, showing white teeth in the gloom, and starts to idly flex and then loosen his various muscles, seeming to get ready for when the word is given.
Raziel nods to Silmeria and then ponders for a few moments before nodding to Vazkor, "go ahead then. It may be possible for you to take them out once you've passed them.. regardless once your through we'll each follow." A quick glance is cast towards Thaylorn's voice before he shakes his head, "I don't think that it'll work to throw something, but we can try whle he's running."
Vazkor vaults the desk like only the truly dashing swords man can and zips across the hall, skillfully dodging the scanning beams of redlight. He is past them and up the stairs in no time at all and to safety on the floor above were some emergency lights give a faint blue glow. Throwing something has no effect so without delay Silmeria and Thaylorn leap out and away. The imp is able to float across the ceiling, the scanning beams of light do not come up that high and he is able to ghost around the searching red beams Silmeria is next, she dodges, she weaves and though her timing is good her speed is not and she passes into one of the beams of light and with a Brrrrututututtututut the turret goes off. There is a spray of liquid as the Esper lady is picked up and tossed into the darkness by the hail of bullets carrying her off her feet.
With a grim set to her face, Silmeria vaults over the table and hares off toward the darkness beyond the beams. Her boots slap against the flooring as she attempts to change direction upon seeing one come for her... but too slow. There's barely enough time for a panicked squeak, before the turret burps fire, bullets slamming into the Esper and carrying her off her feet.
Raziel was just about to make his run when the bullets start to fire and the squeak escapes. "Damnitall.." the mage mutters and knowing there's no time to launch off a spell he runs towards where he heard her land, hoping to get to her before the light finds her again...
Raziel is able to run forward and dodge the searching lights and seize hold of Silmeria, she proves too heavy to just swing up and out of the way so the mage does the only thing open to him, drag her toward the stairs. It is a slow, tedious problem but being in the middle of the room makes it easier and he gets onto the stairs, slowly pulling her up them to were Vazkor and Thaylorn are waiting. She is unconcious and bleeding heavily from the bullet wounds....
Gathered around Silmeria at the top of the stairs on a wide platform, there is a large open doorway leading into a very large office and a set of stairs leading higher into the tower. As the party gather around the broken form of the esper, her sword Ilrune glows and glistens in the pale blue emergency lightning. Something else catches the blade as the unconcoious Epser bleeds heavily onto the floor, her wounds beyond what Raziel's meagre healing talents can hope to stem the tide of. A bright golden light streams from one of the rooms.... sparkling and reflecting off the magical blade, through the doorway sat on the large ornate chrome and ebony desk sits a mighty crystal, the one seen early on the screens below in the Security chamber. Trapped in the centre of that crystal something glows with golden radiance.... a brilliant pulsing light that is warm like the touch of the summer sun upon bare skin. Silmeria's eyes flicker open and the Esper gasps, her gaze seeks Raziel's and her words, whispered and quiet fill the silent space, "When the Golden Servant wakes at the touch of the Wingless' weapons beware for he is near." her words ring... filling the quiet space... the words of prophecy spoken months before in the Tranquil Gardens of Alexander.... the world watches, breathless the spirits watch. Whatever slumbers in that crystal may hold the key and power of Silmeria's restoration but it is also a herald of danger....
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